Catch-basin for sewers.



N0- 599,|75 Patented May 6, |902.-

w. J.-HouGH.. y CATCH' BASIFOB SEWEHS;

(Appucacion fue@ sep. 4, 1900.) v

3 Sheets-Sheet L (No Model.)

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UNITED STATES" {PATENT OFFICE. j

WILLIAM J. HoUcI-I, `or ALBANY, YORK.

Foefer-zwane. y 1

SPECIFICATION forming partei Iletters Patent No. 699,176, dated May 6,A1902.

Application iiled September 4,' 1900. -Serialillo. 28,887. (Ilo model.)

To a/Z whom t may concern.'

' Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. HOUGH, citizen of the United States,residingr at Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Catch-Basins for Sewers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to catch-basins for sewers; and it consists in thenovel devices and novel combinations of parts and devices hereinshownanddescribed, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

The objects of my invention are to provide with a catch-basin which isinterposed be.-y

twee-n the streetsurface and a sewer means and devices by which aseparation of the larger pieces of bothfloatable and sinkable substanceswashed toward the catch-basin by the street surface water may beseparated from'the smaller pieces of those substances and the smallerpieces and particles of iioatable and sinkable substances be readilyseparated from each other and the latter be in part run into the sewerto be ioated off through the sewer to a discharge therefrom, while theformer may be deposited into suitable removable sedimentary vessels andthe sewer-gases be prevented from escaping from the sewer by the way ofthe catch-basin to the street, as heretofore.

Other objects and advantages of the inven tion will be yfully understoodfrom the follow-v ing description and claims when taken in connectionwith the annexed drawings, 'in three sheets, in which- Figure l isa Viewin plan of my improved catch-basin at its street-intake. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of the same at line 1 in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is atransverse section atline 2 in Fig. 1.( Fig.` 4 is a horizontal sectionat line 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section at line 4 in Fig. 2.Fig. 6 is a horizontal section at line 5 in Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a planview of preferred'form of device for supporting the sedimentary vessels.Fig. S is a view, part in section, of the coupling device betweenstandards and seating-bars of said supporting device and also the upperend of a standard. Fig. 9 is a view of the upper side of the saidcoupling device. Fig. lO is a section, on enlarged scale, showingpreferred forms of construction of certain parts; and-Fig. l1

is a. section, on enlarged scale, of thevalveseat and wall of anintake-section of the trap, Abetween the chamber of the basinand itsdischarge-opening.

Similar letters of reference referto similar parts throughout theseveral'vie'ws.l

In the drawings,A is the catch-basin, which may be made of any suitablematerialfand of size and proportion adapted to give'it the capacity forreceiving the several devices to be assembled and combined within itschamber foroperations, as hereinafter described. My preferred form ofconstruction shown in the drawings Vconsists of a metal vessel formed ofsheet-metal walls A', made slightly concavoconvex in a horizontaldirection and on straightlines in a vertical direction and provided`with coupling-anges a a, preferably integral with the plates of saidwallsand secured together by suitable rivets ct. This vessel is madewith a vertical length of from six to eight feet. The several walls ofthis catch-basin and their adj unctsl are coated with a suitablematerial adapted to prevent air and water havingV contact withthesurfaces of the metal of said basin, so that oxidation of the same maybe prevented. This catch-basin may be backed all around with sand orbrick, yet in some cases, as when the metal of walls A' is thin, Iprefer to reinforce said walls by walls B of concrete, formed ofPortland or natural*hydrauliccement combined with sand and broken stoneorgravel, mixed and applied and rammed in accordance with the bestmethods of concrete construction, and in vthis concrete may be embeddedsuitable cast-ironpieces (not shown) set on' the top of the concretewalls to prevent wear lby attrition or be set elsewhere forstrengthening the walls against pressure by frost. These concrete wallsB are tapering and may be stepped as they run upward as may bepreferred, so that frost may be prevented from heaving the same. Thebottomof the basin is preferably formed of similar hydraulic cement.

C is the discharge-opening from the chamber of the catch-basin', whichopening communicates to the sewer (not shown) through the medium of theconduit C', leading from the said basin to said sewer.

D is the intake-opening, which communi- IOO cates from the street-gutterS to the chamber of the basin A. This intake-opening D is of grate formand consists of parallel bars b b and openings c c alternating, the barsbeing of metal and of sufficient size to give them strength to resiststrains which may tend to break or bend them, while the openings c c arenarrow-say about three-eighths of an inch Wide-so as to adapt thisintake to separate the larger pieces of both oatable and snkablesubstances from the smaller pieces of the same substances, respectively,by the former being carried past this grate-form intake by riding onsaid parallel bars b b, and the latter being carried through theslot-form openings c c by the water from the street-gutter G into thesaid basin. The parallel bars b and slot-form openings c are made to runin direction parallel with the line of direction of the flow of thewater in street-gutter G, in which this intake-opening D is placed, andnot transverse to said direction of Iiow of the said water. By thisparallel arrangement of the said bars and the alternating slot-formopenings of the intake-openingD in relation to the line of direction ofthe flow of the streetwater in gutter G, as indicated by arrow 1 in Fig.l, both the floatable and sinkable substances of larger size than thewidth of the openings c e-such as pieces of wood, large leaves, andpieces of brick, stone, cans, &c.- may freely pass forward over the barsZJ b and be clearly discharged from off the same at their terminals b',which terminals have their upper sides relatively above the plane of theupper side of the frame members b2 b2 of the said grate-formintake-opening D, as shown in Figs. l and 3, while the smaller pieces orparts of said oatable and sinkable substances will readily pass downthrough the slot-form openings c c into the receptacle below with thewater taken in by the said intake-opening. It should be understood thatthe aggregated areas of the slot-form openings c c of thisintake-opening D should be but a little larger than the area of thedischarge-opening C, leading from the chamber of the catchbasin to theconduit C, communicating to t-he sewer, which is not shown. As it isevident that an intake-opening of any form employed and much greaterthan the dischargeopening C may take in such a volume of water as toquickly fill the chamber of the catchbasin to overliowing, in which caseother devices and parts of this invention would be rendered more or lessineectual for obtaining all the benecial results designed to be secured.This intake-opening D is removable at will from its frame or setting E,which latter is also removable at will from the fixed supporting-frameF, which latter is shown to have its support on the upper end of thewalls of the catch-basin in its reinforcing concrete outer'walls B,Figs. 2 and 3.

The removable frame E, serving as a setting-frame for the removableintake grateform opening D, maybe of any suitable form of constructionadapted to support Ithe said intake-opening at a suitable distance abovethe plane of the upper end of the catch-basin, as shown in Figs. 2 and3, and give it strength and stiffness for supporting wheels of vehicles,animals, the., without liability of breaking down.

G G are removable sedimentary vessels suitably arranged and supportedbeneath the intake-opening D and within the upper portion of the chamberof the catch-basin A with their upper ends at a few inches from thelower side of the bars b of the said intakeopening. Although but asingle removable sedimentary vessel may be employed, yet I prefer toemploy at least two, although three or more may be used when theconditions of the streets contributing to the catch-basin necessitate anincreased number. Thesesedimentary vessels have their aggregated'areasof upper open ends of their chambers considerably larger than that ofthe removable intake-opening D above and are so arranged in relation tothe latter that said opening D will be relatively central to theaggregate areas of both open ends g, so that all the discharges fromsaid intake-opening D may be relatively central with the aggregatechambers. When but a single sedimentary Vessel is employed, saidintake-opening D will also be larger in area than the area of the openend of the chamber of said vessel, so that similar central dischargesmay be had from the former into the latter.

Any suitable form of means may be employed for supporting thesedimentary vessel or vessels in proper position with the upper end ofthe catch-basin, yet I prefer to employ a suitable number of standardsH, supported by their base ends 7L from the bottom or door of thecatch-basin and projected vertically upward to a suitable distance andprovided with suitable horizontal seats I-I', on which the bottom endsof the sedimentary vessel or vessels G may be readily seated, as shown.These seats H may be of any preferred form, yet I at present prefer tomake them of broad dat bars h and h2, the latter arranged transverse tothe former and with such length as to extend to near the side Walls ofthe catch-basin, so as to be little short of touching the same. Thesebars are suitably coupled together by means of coupling-pieces H2,loosely mounted on the upper ends of standards Il by means of centralsocket h3, provided in the lower side of said couplingpiece H2, and thetenon h4, extended upward from shoulder h5,ipreferably formed by theterminal end edge of the Asaid standards, as shown in Fig. 8. Theseseats H being readily removable from the upper ends of said standards Hmay be readily removed therefrom piece by piece as may be required andbe as readily replaced.

When street surface water from the streetgutter is being poured into thesedimentary vessel or vessels G G from the intake D above IIO IIS

the Iioatable and sinkable substances, mixed with the street- 1ater anddischarged into said vessels, will at first fillthe same, and the inpourof this mixture being continued the water, with the floatablesubstances, will then flowoutwardly in all possible directions and runin cascade'l form over the edge margins Vof said vessels G, and therebyfloat out from said vessels the floatable substances, while the sinkablesubstances-such as sand,broken bits of stone and brick, and othersubstances heavier than Water-will settle downward and eventually beprecipitated within the chamber of said vessel or vessels, there toremain until the vessel or vessels are removed from the catch-basin anddumped therefrom.`

I I are small areas of openings provided in the lower end of eachsedimentary vessel, at or near the bottom of the same, through which thewater remaining in said vessel and mixed with the heavy sediment thereinmay percolate and gradually drain the water off from the same,vandthereby reduce the weight of the contents of said vessel, so that thelatter when filled or nearly filled may be conveniently removed at willby any suitable means and the contents be dumped therefrom in conditionof a moist mass of granular substances.

Jis a grated or open-work vessel, preferably made of woven wire, withmeshes about one-half of an inch square. This vessel is thewater-screening vessel designed to retain the larger pieces of theiioatable substances which passes out from the sedimentary vesselsintothe catch-basin and allow the water and finer particles to pass below,and it is arranged betweenrthe bottom of the sedimentary vessel and thedischarge-opening from the catch-basin. This vessel may be supported byany suitable means and atany preferred distance below the bottom of thesedimentaryvessel and may be made sectional or consist of duplicate.vessels or consist of a single vessel,- as may be preferred or may befound to be advantageous by reason of the conditions which may attenditsuse. When made sectional or comprising two or more smaller or duplicatevessels, they may be wholly removed, with contents therein, from thebasin A and dumped, or when consisting of a single vessel it may behoisted up to the upper end of the catch-basin and be there held untilthe contents are removed. Such removal or hoisting of said vessels J mayreadily be effected when the seating-bars h h2 and their coupling-piecesH2 have been removed away from standards H to outside said catch-basin.y

Located with the catch-basin and between the sedimentary vessels Ganddischarge-openatmosphere of the street. Although av trap of any suitableconstruction may be employed, yet I prefer to use a trap embodying thefeatures of construction shown and de'scribed'in Letters Patent No.648,207 and-granted to William J. Hough April24, 1900. With'the saidHough trap I have ycombined downwardly-projected intake-openingsk la,which in their aggregate capacity shall equal or nearly equal thecapacity of'thegdischargeopening K of the trap. Ball-'form valves L areemployed for closing theintake-openings 7c by seating on. suitablering-form seats M. These seats M are of a metal or alloy which will notrust,and may be of aluminium, brass, bronze, or other suitable materialand may be xed in place in the upper end of the' walls of the respectiveopenings lo by any suitable means. My preferred form of construction ofthis seat-piece M and manner of securing it in place in the upper end ofVwall la of the intake-opening k are shown in Fig.' ll, whichconstruction and manner of securing said seat in place are brieflydescribed as follows: The seat M is made of suitable material, as abovedescribed, and has its internal ballseating surface made in whole orpart with a concave form of curve m, which is in correspondence with thecurvatureof the surface of the ball-valve L, and in its external sideare provided the annular groove m' and upper and lower end edge marginsn n', which are made on suitable tapering lines as they run downwardlyfrom the upper 'end edge hto lower end edge of the said seat-.piece Mand are coated with tin. When the lower half- IOO section of thetrap-patterns is being molded inthe sand, the said seat-piece M willbeplaced in the suitable internal tapering annular recess provided,respectively, in the upper ends of the walls of the intake-walls withwhich the pattern is made, and when the mold has been properly completedand taken apart the seat-piecesM will be left in their places in themold, and when the molten metal is poured the latter will fill'lin thematrix of the mold adjoining the said seat-pieces and also the cavityresulting from the annular grooves m in said seat-pieces and fusewithcthe surface metal of said seat, when said seat will be heldsecurely in place and .have its joint with the metal of the wall of thesaid intake-opening K water-tight.

. The ,ball-valves L may be of any suitable material and construction;yetI prefer to construct them of thin elastic rubber in the form of' atrue sphereand hollow and having its IIO in catch-basins and prevent{ioatable substances incidentally in street surface water from foulingthe ball-valves, I provide within the trap relatively back from theintakeopenings 7a and above the valve-seats M the outwardly-extendedbay-chambers K3,so situated as to allow the ball-valves L to both riseand move in direction from the dischargeopening, so as to allow the saidball-valves to rise from their seats to such a distance as to permit thefull volume of water to readily enter the trap by the way of therespective intake-opening and deliver a full volume from each of thesame tothe discharge-openin g K', while the ball-valves themselves willeach receive the impact of the rapidly-infiowing water on the portionsof the ball over and relatively forward toward the discharge-opening,and thereby be revolved with great rapidity in one direction while thewater is washing away the ioatable substances in direction toward thesaid discharge-openin g. Fi n gers P, properly secured in place and insituation back from discharge-opening K', prevent the ball-valve frombeing carried to said opening.

The trap K is suitably supported within the catch-basin and communicatesby the way of its discharge-opening K' to the dischargeopening C of thecatch-basin by means of a suitable pipe or bend N. This pipe or bend Ipreferably make with a double bend or S form, as shown, so as to producebetween the conduit C', communicating from the catchbasin to the sewer,(not shown,) a water seal, which is designed to relieve the ball-valvefrom excessive pressure from gases which may be generated wit-hin thesewer. This trap K is swiveled in the annular sleeve portion N' of thepipe or bend N and seats on asuitable gasket or packing-ring N2,provided between seating-surface o, adjoining the wall ofthedischarge-opening K', and seating-surface o', formed by the upper endedge of the sleeve portion N', as shown in Figs. l0 and 11, and it maybe readily removed from the pipe or bend N by lifting the body of thetrap vertically to any desired suitable distance. Access may be had tothe body of the trap by removal of the binding-bolts c' '11, shown to beemployed for holding the fianges 7a2 7e3 of the respective sections ofthe trap securely clamped together. By removal of the closingplate N2from the hand-hole n2, provided at the receiving end of the bend or pipeN, access may be had to the chamber of the latter.

The standards II, supporting the horizontal seats H', on which thesedimentary vessels are supported, are prevented from shiftinghorizontally in any direction by the coaction of the lower horizontalbars h3 h4 with the horizontal bars 7L h' and the side walls of thecatch-basin.

Links Q, provided in their free ends with hook-receiving eyes q andpivoted on opposite side walls of the sedimentary vessels,respectively-each at a point a little above the center of gravity-serveas a means by which hooks of a suitable sling or other suitable adjunct(not shown) of a hoisting device may be readily connected with the saidsedimentary vessels for raisin gthem up out from the catchbasins fordumping their contents into a suitable receptacle or place of disposal.Suitable hook-receiving eyes jj are provided in the grated vessel J forservice for connecting with the said vessel J the hooks of the same or asimilar hoisting device which may be used for hoisting the sedimentaryvessels.

It is evident that should the aggregated openings through the removableintake D be much larger than the area of discharge-opening C from thecatch-basin the latter would soon be filled to overflowing in cases ofheavy rains, and under this condition the fioatable and sinkablesubstances delivered with the water into the catch-basin as designedcould not be separated and would run direct into the sewer, thetloatable portions to float down and out from the sewer and thelatter tosettle in the sewer. Therefore I would make the aggregation of theopenings in the intake D to be about equal to the opening of thedischarge-opening C, leading to the sewer.

By my above-described improvements catchbasins may be provided withefficient and simple means which are adapted to preventlarge stones andlarge pieces of wood or other substances, cans, and other articles fromentering the catch-basin and choking the conduit leading therefrom tothe sewer, and also providing a simple and effective means forseparating the small floatable pieces of foreign substances and theparticles of those substances held in suspension in water from thesinkable substances, the former for passage into and through thesewerand the latter for sedimentation within a removable vessel 1ocatedbetween the street-gutter and the sewer and adapted to be hoisted outfrom the catolibasin and emptied into a suitable receptacle in a cleanlymanner for disposal, as may be preferred. Further, the loatablesubstances received within the catch basin in their largest pieces mayreadily be separated from the smaller pieces, the form er to be readilyremoved at pleasure from the chamber of the catch-basin, while thelatter, too small to clog the trap, may readily pass with the water intothe sewer,to be fioated out from the same,and, further, the gasesgenerated within the sewer will be prevented by both a tight valve sealand a water seal from escaping to the street.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

l. A catch-basin for sewers having its Walls concave-convex in sectionand of greater radius than the diameter of the basin, flanges projectingfrom the vertical edges of said Walls, means for securing the adjacentflanges of the adjoining walls together, and a tapering concretereinforce for said walls.

IOO

IIO

2. A catch-basin for sewers having its walls concave-convex in sectionand of greater radius than the diameter of the basin, fianges projectingfrom the vertical edges of said walls, means for securing the adjacentflanges of the adjoining walls together, a tapering concrete reinforcefor said walls, said basin being formed with an intake-opening, and agrated cover for said opening supported by said Walls and concretereinforce.

3.' A catch-basin for sewers having a surface intake-opening, aplurality of sedimentary vessels, each of a size to readily pass throughsaid opening and having an aggregatedvsectional area greater than thatof the opening, l

said vessels being arranged in juxtaposition below said opening tovreceive the flow therefrom and retain sinkable articles, a screeningvessel below and ofgreater sectional area than the combined area of thesedimentary Vessels, and a valved outlet from said basin.

4. A catch-basin for sewers having a surface intake-opening, a'sedimentary vessel below said opening and'supported from' the bottom ofthe basin,a screening-vessel below the sedimentary Vessel, and a valvedtrap below the screening vessel, said trap supporting the sc reeningvessel.

5. A catch-basin forsewers having a surface intake-opening,a valvedtrap-outlet, a screening vessel above the trap and extending beyond thesame on all sides, and a sedimentary vessel between the screening vesseland the intake-opening, said sedimentary vessel being of less sectionalarea than the screening vessel vand supported from the bottom of thebasin.

6. A catchbasin for sewers having a surface intake-openin g, a valvedtrap-outlet centrally disposed near the bottom of the basin,a screeningvessel supportedby the trap and projecting beyond the same in alldirections, and a sedimentary vessel of less sectional area than thescreening vessel, said sedimentary vessel being removably supported bythe bottomof the basin and arranged to receive all the iiow from said`intake-opening. f

7. A catch-basin for sewers having a surface intake-opening,l a valvedtrap-outlet, a sedimentary vessel below said intake-opening, postsrising from the bottom of the basin and supporting said sedimentaryvessel, and a screening vessel intermediate the trap and sedimentaryvessel and supported by the trap.

` 8. A catch-basin for sewers having a surface intake-opening comprisinga grate, the `bars of which are arranged in the direction of ilow ofwater in the street-gutter and having their surface planes above thesurface of the transverse end members of the grate, a valved trapoutletfrom the basin, a sedimentary vessel `below said intake-opening, postsrising from the lbottom of the basin and provided with horizontal seatsto support said sedimentary vessel, and a screening vessel between thesedimentary vessel and trap.

WILLIAM J. HOUGH.

Witnesses CHARLES SELKIRK, ALEX. SELKIRK.

